>Ensign’s Overlook: Defense contractor whistleblower protection amendment advances

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Once upon a time, in a capital far away, the junior Senator from Nevada served as the chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support during the Rubber Stamp 109th. Senator John Ensign (R-NV) was only too pleased to explain during his 2006 re-election campaign how his committee was exercising oversight of defense procurement contracts. [DB] [DB] Had the Junior Senator been as arduous in his task as he said he was, then why are we now reading that the House gave a veto proof majority to legislation increasing whistleblower protection? Why is the Senate poised to do the same?

The Senate Armed Services Committee approved amendment language to the 2008 Defense Authorization bill that would increase whistleblower protections for Defense Department contract employees who report waste, fraud, or abuse. [GovExec] The House passed similar language in HR 985 by a veto-proof 331-94 vote. Predictably, the Bush Administration is opposed: “…(the) administration has argued that expanding whistleblower protections could increase the number of frivolous complaints and compromise national security. The president has threatened to veto the House bill on the grounds that it would authorize any employee to make a classified disclosure to members of Congress.” (emphasis added)

Heaven forbid we’d have any more “frivolous” complaints like: (1) The under-performing ASDS Navy vehicle the problems with which were shuffled from the contractor to the Service, and which the GAO reported was built with little incentive to meet schedule or cost goals resulting in half the delivery ordered going over cost and 20 out of 26 orders missing the delivery deadlines; [GovExec] or (2) the Coast Guard’s flawed “Deepwater Program” that created unusable patrol boats with cracking hulls; [DID] or (3) Why the Pentagon didn’t release Dragon Skin test results until May 28 — after the NBC report comparing DS to the Interceptor Body Armor — and still hasn’t explained why shots were test fired into “non-rifle defeating areas?” [MSNBC] or (4) The Humvee doors that trap troops inside after a blast, weren’t designed for urban warfare in the first place, and haven’t yet been replaced with MRAP vehicles — a $1.5 billion amendment secured by Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) in the most recent military spending bill. [USAT] Marines in the field have been asking for 1,200 MRAPs since February 2005 and thus far they’ve received less than 100. [TP] This sounds suspiciously like Senator Ensign’s definition of Oversight meant “overlooking,” not “over looking.”

Senator Ensign now serves as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support.
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Update: Nevada News roundup at Blue Sage Views